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Eating Hot Cheetos, other spicy snacks may have led to teen's gallbladder removal surgery

A teen ate about four bags of hot snacks weekly and began feeling sick to her stomach, then had to have her gallbladder removed.

(CBS) -- If you're a fan of Hot Cheetos, Takis or other spicy chips, there may be more to worry about when snacking than burning your tongue. Your gallbladder may be at stake.

Rene Craighead, 17, of Memphis, Tennessee, estimated she was eating about four bags of the popular hot chip flavors when she began feeling sick to her stomach, reports CBS affiliate WREG-TV. She was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery to remove her gallbladder. Her mother, also named Rene, blames the surgery on her daughter's favorite hot snacks.

"She loves them. Every time I go out she says, 'Bring me back some Hot Takis, bring me back some Hot Chips.' I want to make her her happy, so I brought them back. She was eating big bags and would take them to school with her," the elder Craighead told WREG-TV.

Dr. Cary Canvender, a gastroenterologist at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital told WREG-TV, that while many factors contribute to the removal of a person's gallbladder, eating spicy chips likely contributed to the high school student's surgery.

"We do see tons of gastritis and ulcer-related stuff due to it," Cavender said,"We probably see around 100 kids a month, easily."

MORE: Read the full story at CBS

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